By Anthony Kuehn

Detroit Free Press Special Writer

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Anthony Kuehn is the editor of the Detroit Lions blog Lions Gab. His opinions do not necessarily reflect those of the Detroit Free Press nor its writers. Get in touch with Anthony at lionsgab@gmail.com or on Twitter @lionsgab.

The NFL Draft is just a little over a week away and this is the time of year that the teams’ front office personnel get the spotlight. General managers, scouts and coaches grab the headlines as they pose with their picks or receive praise/criticism from the draft analysts. Despite the popularity of the draft (which draws higher ratings than the NBA Finals, World Series and Stanley Cup Finals) most fans have little to no understanding of the dynamics of a front office or a draft room.

The front office is the equivalent of the brain and nervous system; it is where everything starts and the team cannot function without. When Houston was awarded the NFL’s 32nd franchise, their front office was in place two years before their stadium was finished. Decisions on things ranging from coaching hires to free agency to organizational structure are made by the front office. Just like the central nervous system, the functionality of the front office is complex.

I can’t tell you how many times I have received emails, seen comments or talked to fans that still link Martin Mayhew to Matt Millen. “Mayhew worked for Millen, so he doesn’t know what he’s doing.” Or, “The Lions didn’t clean house, they still have all of Millen’s employees, no wonder they can’t draft.” Well here’s a fun fact, quite a few of the scouts and personnel guys predate Millen.

Matt Millen’s predecessor was Ron Hughes who joined the Lions in 1982 and moved all the way up to general manager by 1996. Hughes and his staff were responsible for drafting some of the greatest players in Lions’ history. After he was fired by the Lions, Hughes joined his former protégé Kevin Colbert in Pittsburgh. The Steelers won a Super Bowl four years later, won another Super Bowl three years later and made another Super Bowl appearance two years after that.

About a year after winning his second Super Bowl (and only months after Millen was fired) Hughes was doing an interview with Bob McGinn talking about the success he had experienced as a member of the Steelers’ front office. Eventually the interview led to a discussion about his former employer. Hughes revealed that the Lions’ scouts “do the same thing we do in Pittsburgh.” In fact, when Colbert joined the Steelers he took the Lions’ front office model with him. The difference between Detroit and Pittsburgh was summed up with one simple statement, “the organization is successful because of the people at the very top.”

When GMs are hired and fired, the scouting staff remains intact for the most part. There will be changes here and there over time, but the majority of the staff stays in place. Some of the scouts that were responsible for scouting Barry Sanders, Chris Spielman, Bennie Blades and Herman Moore are still scouting for the Lions.

There are a couple of reasons why Matt Millen failed, but none of them were due to the scouting staff. One of the most important aspects of a good front office is consensus building and cohesion. Millen provided none of that and did a lot of damage to the structure that was in place. Millen was known for overruling the scouts, despite them spending hundreds of hours researching their players while Millen would spend a couple of hours on each prospect. Millen drafted players that his coaches didn’t want to work with (Joey Harrington and Drew Stanton,) didn’t fit the scheme (Charles Rogers and Mike Williams,) or on one occasion one coach wanted to work with.

This story was shared by Tom Kowalski several years back and summed up the disarray Millen created in the draft room. The Lions were on the clock in the third round and the room was engaged in a lengthy debate on whether G Max Jean-Gilles was worth taking in the third round:

“The Lions spent so much time talking about Jean-Gilles that, when they decided not to draft him, they didn't have another option ready to go. As they wondered what to do, a voice in the back of the room (the identity of which I haven't confirmed yet) said ‘Take Brian Calhoun.’ So they did.”

That type of organizational dysfunction was the hallmark of Millen’s tenure and it no longer exists in Allen Park, but it wasn’t the only reason he failed. Millen also did not put in the type of legwork that is required of a good GM. I was speaking with a former personnel director of a division rival shortly after Millen was fired and asked him why he thought Millen failed. He shared a conversation he was in with Millen and then Giants GM Ernie Accorsi. Accorsi made mention of how many long hours he was putting in and Millen said, “You guys that do 15 hour days are nuts, there’s a better way to do this and I’ll show you how it’s done.”

Obviously, Millen didn’t show anybody how it was done. He was a GM but he was working broadcaster hours and that wasn’t good enough. In addition, he would fly back home to Pennsylvania on the weekends. Mayhew, on the other hand, frequently travels to scout prospects and puts in the work because he came up through the ranks and knows what it takes to evaluate talent.

I get a lot of feedback from e-mailers or commenters about being a shill for Mayhew, but when you see the mess he inherited and how much he’s done to put the organization back on track it makes it easier to give him the benefit of the doubt. When Ron Hughes was asked why he lost his job with the Lions, he very simply replied, "Hey, on my tombstone will be read, 'He never got us a quarterback,' and I never did. That was the problem." Mayhew has been able to do what Hughes never could, he landed a franchise quarterback, now he just needs to put a few more players around him.

Speaking of franchise quarterbacks, I’d like to share some insight into a front office that is widely hailed as one of the best in the league, the Green Bay Packers. Just like the Lions’ front office personnel outside of Millen took a heavy amount of criticism they didn’t deserve, sometimes a GM or front office gets a little more praise for something than they should.

Back in 2005 the top pick in the draft was expected to come down to Alex Smith and Aaron Rodgers. Obviously, Alex Smith went to the 49ers and Aaron Rodgers had a massive free fall down to the 24th pick where he was selected by the Packers. Packers GM Ted Thompson is given a huge amount of credit for taking Aaron Rodgers and seeing something in him that everybody else missed. But the truth is a little bit different than reality.

When the Packers pick came up, they only had one player left on their board with a first round grade. Aaron Rodgers. The Packers still had Brett Favre and were competing for division titles, not your typical team looking for a franchise quarterback. As soon as the Packers were on the clock they started making calls to trade down. Just in case they couldn’t trade down, they called Aaron Rodgers and his agent.

The reason for calling Rodgers was twofold. First, they wanted to see what his contract demands would be. Since he was projected as a potential first overall pick, they were concerned that his agent would want more money than a typical 24th pick would get. Secondly, they wanted any team picking after them that was interested in Rodgers to get a busy signal when they tried to reach him.

The Packers kept stalling with Rodgers until they became reasonably certain they were not going to be able to trade down. They briefly discussed drafting the next highest player on their board who had a high second round grade, but GM Ted Thompson wanted to stay true to his board and take the best player available. When the card was turned into the commissioner, the Packers had settled for Aaron Rodgers. Not exactly the same story that fans got, is it?

Next week you’ll hear every GM and coach talk about how the board fell perfectly for them and the player they truly wanted was there for the taking. There will be smiles and handshakes and photo ops for the teams’ homepages. But behind closed doors there will be chaos, intrigue, luck and a whole lot of sweat. Or as NFL front office personnel call it, just another day at the office.